Thoughts On Who We Are and What We Value

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32 Years

This is me at age 16 with my “first students” on Teacher’s Day, Dia del Maestro Leon Pinelo 1979.

Thirty two years of experience….

It is hard to believe that my career began in 1984, a time when choosing to become an educator was going against the norm. It was a challenging professional environment — there was a freeze in teacher hiring and most talented college students were deterred from entering a career in education. Many of my college classmates were conflicted by the dual messages sent by society and their personal passions. To teach or not to teach? That was the question. Like many of my peers, my quandary was no different. I was graduating with math and psychology majors and an education minor. My desire to teach dated back to my young teenage years. Many of my professors encouraged me to enter the finance or engineering world.

Thirty-two years later, I have no regrets and have never looked back. Not for a moment. Sure these years have had ups and downs. I have seen educational trends come and go. Yet, my own passion for learning has never diminished. As a student of education, I have embraced many initiatives and changes, weathered many educational misconceptions and challenges, and, today, I am proud of a career that has fulfilled both my passions and my intellectual thirst.

I have been asked by many to share my thoughts and opinions about the state of education today – both general and Jewish, from the Carmel Academy perspective and from my own viewpoint. This blog is an attempt to do just that — to share, to hear ideas, to challenge you to think about educational issues and for readers to challenge my thinking.

I hope you will join me in this new venture, provide me with feedback, and share your thoughts. Together, we will have meaningful discussions about a topic dear to our hearts.